Politics

Americans Say China, not U.S., World's Top Economy

By Brian Montopoli

February 14, 2011 / 3:19 PM EST / CBS News

A majority of Americans believe China is now the world's leading economic power, according to a new Gallup poll.

Fifty-two percent chose China as the top economic power when presented with a list of six options. Only 32 percent chose the United States. Seven percent pointed to Japan, while the remaining options (the European Union, Russia and India) were chosen by three percent or less.

The poll shows a major shift in perceptions: In 2009, Gallup found that Americans were nearly split on which country was the dominant economic power, with 39 percent choosing China and 37 percent choosing the United States. In 2000, 65 percent chose the United States, while just ten percent pointed to China.

Gallup also asked which country will be the world's leading economic power in 20 years. Forty-seven percent of Americans said China, while 35 percent of Americans pointed to their own country.

China's power became a major sticking point during the midterm elections, with politicians on both sides of the aisle casting the country as an economic boogeyman. It was also an issue at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, where Former Minnesota governor and likely GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty expressed incredulitythat Americans expect China to be the dominant economic power in two decades.

"America's place is not lagging behind China," he said, echoing many Republican speakers' rhetoric about American exceptionalism. "America's place is leading the world."

China overtook Japan Monday to become the world's second-largest economy based on Gross Domestic Product, as the Washington Post reports -- though it remains far smaller than the United States.

The per capita (or per person) GDP of China -- which, as the Wall Street Journal notes, has 11 times the population of Japan and four times the population of the United States -- is $4,300, according to the Independent Monetary Fund. The United States' per capita GDP, by contrast, is $47,400, according to the CIA World Factbook.